Basement Stairs

 

Ran out of money for the bathroom project.

We still need a door, and a wall, and a fan, and a vanity,

 so we'll take a little break and work on a free project.

 

These basement stairs have been bugging me forever.

 They are the last bit of asbestos covered surface left in the house. 

 

We stripped the tiles off,

and now are working on scraping and sanding

 all of the glue and tar paper off the surface.

 

This borrowed power sander is doing the trick...

 

If we can get them down to the bare wood,

 then we'll figure out what to do from there.

 

Those look like ghost bubbles,

but I know it's just dust from sanding...

 

This project should keep us busy for a while.

Bob & Terry Workin' Hard

 

Finishing off the trim on the built in shelves,

 and the cute little box shelf that hides the inconvenient plumbing...

 

We just keep wrapping the cedar around the room,

 one wall at a time.

 

While Terry works on trim,

 I started stripping the layers of tile and glue off the stairs.

 

This is going to take some elbow grease,

 and determination.

 

Figuring out molding...

 

There, the little box shelf is done (love it).

 

Went over to mom's today to finish up some jobs.

 Still lingering flood damage, rain damaged ceiling.

 

Terry got to work on the ceiling...

 

and Bobby got to work

cleaning out the hood fan over the stove.

 

Hard at work.

They're so cute.

 

Bob's new ride.

 

Busy day, and got a lot done.

 

 

Never Ending Bathroom Project

 

This looks kinda messy right now...

but it's coming together.

 

Hanging a sconce above the toilet.

 

Molding ready to be hung.

 

Taking a break to work on a doghouse for Nick.

 

Hanging a sconce turned out to be a bigger electrical job than expected...

 

There it is.

 

Hung a curtain...

Hung a toilet paper holder...

 

Hung towel hooks...

 

Gosh, all the little things add up.

 

Keep Carrying On

Resting after carving pumpkins...

 

My kids.

 

 

Lot's of pumpkin ideas this year;

painting, and decopage', and the winner is... traditional carving...

 

Back down to the basement bathroom...

This area needs a special touch.

We need to cover up plumbing (that cannot be moved).

Also building some built-in shelving.

Work in progress.

Terry's working his magic.

Sanded and cut cedar boards ready to mount...

 

Priming the inset shelves,

 and adding a little tile touch to the box

 that will hide the inconvenient plumbing.

 

I'll finish it tomorrow.

 

We're doin this,

And I think we will have to drag mom over to see this one,

when it's done.

I think that's an official Thankgiving invitation... 

 

Keep laughing.

Keep loving.

Keep carrying on...

Salvage

 

Busy weekend; went to mom's to take care of a few things,

and it seems there are still a few things left from the August flooding.

 

I brought home two boxes of Christmas ornaments

 that were in her basement,

 (we shoved them out in the garage, and ignored them until now)

.

 

One box was fine, but the other was completely waterlogged,

 and growing Black mold. This was all I could salvage.

 

There's Terry salvaging around in the rafters for wood...

 

I grouted some more tile work.

 

This area is a challenge, because he needs to cover up a pipe in the floor,

 redirect the plumbing to the future vanity, and build an inset shelf.

 

I'm finding ways to salvage scrap cedar board.

 

It looks like a mess right now, but just wait...

 

Wall by wall, it will come together.

Downtown Detroit, twice in one weekend.

This morning we went to a salvage company,

looking for an old vanity that might fit our basement bathroom space.

 

I just cannot spend hundreds of dollars

 on crappy particle board crap from local stores.

This place was cool, but did not have what we were looking for.

Salvaged doors, and windows, and kitchen cabinets galore,

 but no vanity that served our purpose.

 

So... as we drove home,

 we decided that Terry will be building the vanity himself.

We might come back here for the sink though...

 

Random stuff...

This is Pineapple Sage. Buy a tiny 3 inch pot in the Spring,

and this is what it turns into.

 A beautiful plant, and lasts all through Fall.

 

Word for the day: Salvage. 

Robin & Terry Go AWOL

We took a mental health day today.

 Terry took a day off from work (his first in I think 5 years),

and we went out and about.

 

First we stopped at my dad's grave, and cleaned it up.

 

Looks like they did some major trimming

of the old Oak tree he rests under.

Then we decided to head out to Belle Isle.

We haven't been there since the state took over control,

 and we wanted to see if it was more inviting...

 

It was definitely more inviting, and it was devoid of people.

I thought you had to pay to get onto the island (NO, we didn't).

We roamed freely, and drove around and around the whole island.

 

The only problem was that the attractions we wanted to visit were all closed.

The Dossin Great Lakes Museum was closed, and the Aquarium was closed...

 

The only thing open was the Plant Conservatory,

which we thoroughly enjoyed wandering through.

 

Amazing collection of plants, trees, and flowers.

Then we headed over to Eastern Market,

where we got completely lost in an old antique store.

 

We could have stayed there all day, except we got real hungry...

So we slipped into the Farmer's Restaurant and had a BLT with fries.

We ended the afternoon at Elmwood Cemetery,

where we have been before,

but just seem to be drawn here,

to visit the graves of my Great-Great Grandparents graves.

 

These two are a mystery unsolved in my family genealogy research,

and so we keep trying to search for more information about them...

 

It was a wonderful day, spent with my honey, out and about in Detroit.